An article, written by two confidantes of Pope Francis, contends this alliance contradicts the Holy Father’s message of mercy on key issues like immigration and religious freedom.

CNA/EWTN News

VATICAN CITY — An analysis piece published Thursday in La Civilta Cattolica discusses what it calls a “surprising” and unfortunate alliance between conservative Catholics and evangelicals in the U.S. on issues such as immigration — suggesting the two are in direct opposition to Pope Francis’ message of mercy.

The article, published online July 13, is co-authored by Father Antonio Spadaro, editor in chief of the Jesuit publication, and Marcelo Figueroa, a Presbyterian pastor who is editor in chief of the Argentine edition of L’Osservatore Romano, the Vatican’s newspaper.

Both men are regarded as confidantes of Pope Francis. La Civilta Cattolicais also seen as a messenger of sorts for the Holy See, as its text is revised and approved by the Vatican Secretariat of State before it is published.

Father Spadaro and Figueroa start from the U.S. motto, In God We Trust, saying that for some this “is a simple declaration of faith,” but for others it is “the synthesis of a problematic fusion between religion and state, faith and politics, religious values and economy.”

The authors hold that in recent decades American politics have been shaped by “religion, political Manichaeism and a cult of the apocalypse.”

They cite President George W. Bush’s speaking of the “axis of evil” and the US’ duty to “free the world from evil” as an example of what they call “a Manichaean language that divides reality between absolute Good and absolute Evil.”

Father Spadaro and Figueroa trace these to the evangelical-fundamentalist movement which began in the early 20th century, and tie them to the consideration of the U.S. as “a nation blessed by God.”

“They do not hesitate to base the economic growth of the country on a literal adherence to the Bible,” they write. “Over more recent years this current of thought has been fed by the stigmatization of enemies who are often ‘demonized.’”

Fundamentalism has developed an exegesis which decontextualizes the Old Testament without being “guided by the incisive look, full of love, of Jesus in the Gospels,” they write, adding that “within this narrative, whatever pushes toward conflict is not off limits.”

“Another interesting aspect is the relationship with creation of these religious groups that are composed mainly of whites from the deep American South,” Fr. Spadaro and Figueroa state. “There is a sort of ‘anesthetic’ with regard to ecological disasters and problems generated by climate change. They profess ‘dominionism’ and consider ecologists as people who are against the Christian faith.”

Ecological problems are regarded by fundamentalists as signs of the apocalypse, they write, which “confirm their non-allegorical understanding of the final figures of the Book of Revelation and their apocalyptic hope in a ‘new heaven and a new earth.’”

The authors find a prophetic formula to this worldview, characterizing it as charged to “fight the threats to American Christian values and prepare for the imminent justice of an Armageddon, a final showdown between Good and Evil, between God and Satan.”

They also cite Rousas Rushdoony, a 20th-century Protestant pastor, in this regard, and note his influence on Steve Bannon, who is chief strategist in the Trump administration.

Rushdoony supports, they say, the subjection of public norms to religious morals and a “theocratic necessity” that “submit[s] the state to the Bible with a logic that is no different from the one that inspires Islamic fundamentalism.”

Father Spadaro and Figueroa then treat of the prosperity gospel and the rhetoric of religious liberty, first citing Norman Vincent Peale, another 20th century Protestant pastor. Peale authored The Power of Positive Thinking and was close to President Donald Trump, as well as Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan.

In the section treating of the prosperity gospel, they also speak about “a particular form of proclamation of the defense of ‘religious liberty.’”

“The erosion of religious liberty is clearly a grave threat within a spreading secularism,” they write. “But we must avoid its defense coming in the fundamentalist terms of a ‘religion in total freedom,’ perceived as a direct virtual challenge to the secularity of the state.”

Next, the authors describe what they call a “fundamentalist ecumenism” developing between evangelical fundamentalists and “Catholic Integralists,” who they say are “brought together by the same desire for religious influence in the political sphere.”

They note that some Catholics “express themselves in ways that until recently were unknown in their tradition and using tones much closer to Evangelicals … Both Evangelical and Catholic Integralists condemn traditional ecumenism and yet promote an ecumenism of conflict that unites them in the nostalgic dream of a theocratic type of state.”

For Father Spadaro and Figueroa, “the most dangerous prospect for this strange ecumenism is attributable to its xenophobic and Islamophobic vision that wants walls and purifying deportations.”

They describe this as a paradoxical “ecumenism of hate” which contrasts with Pope Francis’ “ecumenism that moves under the urge of inclusion, peace, encounter and bridges. This presence of opposing ecumenisms — and their contrasting perceptions of the faith and visions of the world where religions have irreconcilable roles — is perhaps the least known and most dramatic aspect of the spread of Integralist fundamentalism.”

“Here we can understand why the pontiff is so committed to working against ‘walls’ and any kind of ‘war of religion.’”

In the article, Father Spadaro and Figueroa argue that “[t]he religious element should never be confused with the political one.”

“Confusing spiritual power with temporal power means subjecting one to the other … There is a need to flee the temptation to project divinity on political power that then uses it for its own ends,” they say.

As an example, they point to the “shocking rhetoric” of Church Militant, a website formerly known as Real Catholic TV, which changed its name to in 2012 after being told by the Archdiocese of Detroit that it did not have permission to describe itself as “Catholic.”

Church Militant and its founder Michael Voris are known for their controversial positions. Voris has claimed on one of his programs that only faithful Catholics should be allowed to vote. In 2011, Voris was banned from speaking at any facility owned by the Diocese of Scranton, Penn.

Father Spadaro and Figueroa noted that the group portrayed the U.S. elections as a “spiritual war,” creating “a close analogy between Donald Trump and Emperor Constantine, and between Hilary Clinton and Diocletian.” By suggesting that Trump’s victory could be attributed to the prayers of Americans, Church Militant portrayed “a divine election,” they said.

“This warlike and militant approach seems most attractive and evocative to a certain public, especially given that the victory of Constantine — it was presumed impossible for him to beat Maxentius and the Roman establishment.”

A truly Christian theopolitical plan would be eschatological, they said.

“And this is why the diplomacy of the Holy See wants to establish direct and fluid relations with the superpowers, without entering into pre-constituted networks of alliances and influence.”

In contrast, Father Spadaro and Figueroa say, Pope Francis “radically rejects the idea of activating a Kingdom of God on earth as was at the basis of the Holy Roman Empire and similar political and institutional forms, including at the level of a ‘party.’”

They also warn that fear of chaos and a breakdown of order is what “underlies the persuasive temptation for a spurious alliance between politics and religious fundamentalism.”

Political success becomes assured by “exaggerating disorder” and “agitating the souls of the people by painting worrying scenarios beyond any realism,” they write. At this point, religion becomes “a guarantor of order.”

Pope Francis, however, is fighting against “the manipulation of this season of anxiety and insecurity,” they say. The Pope “gives no theological-political legitimacy to terrorists, avoiding any reduction of Islam to Islamic terrorism. Nor does he give it to those who postulate and want a ‘holy war’ or to build barrier-fences crowned with barbed wire.”

“(T)he Christian roots of a people are never to be understood in an ethnic way,” Father Spadaro and Figueroa write. “Triumphalist, arrogant and vindictive ethnicism is actually the opposite of Christianity.”

There’s a lot of big words and a rather divisive tone to this article. No mention of the Catechism affirming the right of a nation to have proper borders for safeguarding it’s citizens. I agree with much of the article, but it felt rather condescending, with a bit of an elitist twist. So even though much of it was probably pretty true, it was a long, laborious, and loquacious article.

Posted by Bernie on Monday, Jul, 17, 2017 11:50 AM (EDT):

To: Mercy to Christ Brothers and Sisters
Christian Charity is not lobbying the government to tax everyone, and look after the “poor”, that is called socialism, (or Marxism). Have you read “The Gulag Archipelago”? Also, Do you realize how much government has to blot in order to administer these social programs? Social workers, administrators, supervisors and managers, etc. If “The Church” wants to perform the Charitable works of mercy, then it should directly provide them, not the Government. Catherine Doherty heard a call “Go Give everything you have, personally, directly, to the poor, then come and follow me”, prior to founding Madonna House. She was a Russian immigrant, who worked with Dorothy Day in New York prior to moving to Combermere, Ontario. She fled Russia with the revolutionaries perusing her to kill her. She understood true Christian Charity.

Posted by Jean on Sunday, Jul, 16, 2017 9:46 AM (EDT):

These two theologians have obviously prayed hard and worked hard before publishing this incredibly prophetic article. The Holy Spirit worked its way within our Church and our hearts when he selected our Holy Father, Pope Francis. In this article, the Holy Spirit is asking for our discernment. The diagnosis made of the American Catholic Church is right on! Only in the USA does the Catholic Church (well, it’s powerful integralist wing anyways!), only in the USA has our Church strayed so far away from the Gospels. Is it the lure of money? Is it the influence of sister evangelical churches? Is it the hatred of the poor, the migrant, the gays? Is it the closeness of our American Cardinals and Bishops to corrupted politicians and power? Is it the profoundly flawed seminary training and the many strange individuals that are now attracted to the priesthood? Or is it a counterpunch to the thousands of pedophile bishops and priests scandals where the American Church needs to ‘distract’ , just as Trump does with his political troubles? Whatever the reasons, the integrist wing of the American Catholic Church, presumably led by the demoted Cardinal Burke, needs to go on a retreat and rethink it’s place within the Roman Catholic Church. We are not an evangelical, apocalyptic, money hungry Church….and we must be a Church where priority is given to the poor, the marginalized, the sick and the weak. This is our only “political” posture possible!

Posted by St donatus on Saturday, Jul, 15, 2017 11:30 PM (EDT):

It is clear from this article that the leadership of the vatican are soundly in the clutches of Satan. These men are not Catholic so those that say they are leaving the Church due to men like these are just joining the authors of this heretical article. They hope to destroy the Church from within. I am no republican but I do believe in Jesus Christ and his bride, the Roman Catholic Church. Today it seems to exist in a remnant of those who still believe the faith Jesus taught and the saints carried on to us. Yes I beleive in the heaven and hell that Jesus taught, not the heresy that these men espouse. I believe in the truths the Church has passed on for 2000 years, not the evil the current residents of the vatican are promoting. Sadly it seems to be the Pope that is leading these men.

Posted by Anthony on Saturday, Jul, 15, 2017 6:53 PM (EDT):

A maze of convoluted labels twisted and stuck together with the glue of relativism grinding out a surrealism divorced from reality and facts which is typical of these two spin doctor contortionists. They should be sent back to elementary philosophy class. How on earth did these two jokers attain their present position. Beggars belief.

Posted by Glendon Baker on Saturday, Jul, 15, 2017 5:25 PM (EDT):

The Vatican is beginning to cave to modernism and all things earthly instead of keeping their sights on the souls of mankind and helping them get to heaven. I pray daily that God will enlighten them but as of yet my prayers go unanswered. Michael Voris is doing much to inform Catholics and save their souls, may God continue to bless him in all his undertakings.

Posted by judy on Saturday, Jul, 15, 2017 2:29 PM (EDT):

NOTHING! NOTHING is charitable by calling Christians like these names! NOTHING NOTHING Christianic in this manner. I will be very very afraid to step in the confessional where a priest think in this manner! They pre judge people publically!
.
The sas facts is that many people (clergies) out of USA believe America as the fake media paint!
At the end of day they talk and think alike!!!

Posted by Mark Martinson on Saturday, Jul, 15, 2017 1:26 PM (EDT):

I guess ecumenicalism is good only when it involves Muslims, liberal protestand and liberal Jews.

Posted by Rob on Saturday, Jul, 15, 2017 12:18 PM (EDT):

Just one word as na example of how wrong the Pope and these fine authors are - Poland. To use the Rosaries and prayers and weapons against the mighty invaders like the Soviets, Germans, Mongols, Swedes, and the Ottomans and to win the battles and humiliation is not a small miracle. And to give it suddenly up for some sinister idea cloth in Mercy would be not only foolish but suicidal, which the Western Europe is very well aware of, but the good people there remain mute if not outright persecuted for so called “hate speech “. I suggest the authors, instead of talking nonsense, leave the relative safety of the Vatican walls and Move in to the ever growing No Go zones all over Europe. I bet they will be the first ones to call the Pope and Angels and Red Cross to lift them up to safety. Never trust the generals who instead of the gun powder, they inhale the sweet aroma of fine cigars. Trump is Right, Poland and the Inter Marium countries are right, and even the Arab countries are right in rejecting unvetted, uncouth, brutal imposters - probably the future army of the diabolical monster called the European Union. If loving God says No, we know it’s good for us. When we Christians say NO is simply following God’s example and protecting the very Christianity that is attacked from every possible way by every possible means. The facts speak for themselves and end of discussion.

Coming together to serve humanity and the Planet - a wonderful initiative. Spending our lives praising and thanking God for the gift of life to us and to fellow mortals is simply wonderful.

Posted by Benedetti on Saturday, Jul, 15, 2017 4:23 AM (EDT):

Donald Trump has exposed the beneficiaries of corruption in America just by being himself while campaigning and after winning the Presidency. Now he is exposing the vacuousness of the Pontiff and his minions when it comes to their supposed policy of ecumenism and their false charity towards their fellowmen. The cardinals better do a better job of vetting candidates in the next conclave.

Posted by Bill on Saturday, Jul, 15, 2017 1:42 AM (EDT):

Poor Jesuits. So many try so hard to be cool, without anxiety or insecurity. They condemn such heartfelt feelngs from a world that is separating from God, and from the bond between love and life, humility and joy. Hence, love curves inward and life is constrained. Dependency and control replaces true freedom and responsibilty. Nuance over simplicity. The Jesuits are the protected and are full of pretense. They get to really know so few conservatives, yet they dine with the best. Very proud and condemning of others who do not share their pursuit of intellectual fame and fury. God save them; God save us all.

Posted by Alexander on Friday, Jul, 14, 2017 10:20 PM (EDT):

Catholicism/Christianity yielded temporal power from the time of Constantine until around the time of the Renaissance (a period spanning around 1000 years). In the west it was the Holy Roman Empire and in the east it was the Byzantine Empire. I take the prophecy in the book of Revelation, about the thousand year reign of Christ on Earth, as referring to this temporal rule of Christianity. Prophetically I don’t see another temporal rule of Christianity on Earth while humanity is flesh and blood; that will come at Christ’s Second Coming, when he creates a New Heaven and Earth and death is no more. For now, my main concern is protecting religious freedom and our national sovereignty, because they go hand in hand. A world subject to international organizations and rule will not be friendly to religious freedom. The United Nations promotes secular, progressive values, and that, along with extremist Environmentalism, is their religion. When I voted for Trump my goal was not to establish some form of a White, Christian dictatorship. I am an American of Hispanic background and I voted for Trump so that we wouldn’t become part of that deceived world that St. Augustine said would persecute the Church and Christianity before Christ’s Return.

Posted by Henry York on Friday, Jul, 14, 2017 8:59 PM (EDT):

What is with the cheap shots at ChurchMilitant.com? I agree this group sometimes goes overboard with rhetoric but they are not afraid to report all of the Catholic news - good or bad. Totally uncalled for.

Posted by William McCormick on Friday, Jul, 14, 2017 2:53 PM (EDT):

Would appreciate receiving all additional comments. Thank you.

Posted by emmett coyne on Friday, Jul, 14, 2017 2:21 PM (EDT):

Not to worry, all diehard trads here. Our new Vatican ambassador’s husband (both involved in an adulterous affair while leading impeachment charges against Clinton?) will shred the La Civilta article to shreds.
The article will bring out all the trad battalions to turn their guns on Francis and friends.
I applaud NCR for parsing the La Cilvta article without editorializing.
Enough readers here to add their combustible commentary.
“Love your enemies” has fallen on deaf ears; rather, spew hate and fear mongering in his name?
Will be interesting to watch the legion form here!

Posted by Bernie on Friday, Jul, 14, 2017 1:39 PM (EDT):

Love your comment Hoss! Here’s mine.
Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger said: “Today, having a clear faith based on the Creed of the Church is often labeled as fundamentalism. Whereas relativism, that is, letting oneself be ‘tossed here and there, carried about by every wind of doctrine’, seems the only attitude that can cope with modern times. We are building a dictatorship of relativism that does not recognize anything as definitive and whose ultimate goal consists solely of one’s own ego and desires.”
It is my understanding that both JPII and BXVI were both referred to as Fundamentalists! I wouldn’t have a problem with these two guys calling me one, but I do believe protestant fundamentalists would!

Folks, it appears from the comments thus far are very skewed towards the Republican slant and bias. The propaganda that has been congesting the internet sites, and biased media sources have brainwashed many. This article sheds light from a wider perspective beyond the geographic boundaries of the US that provides a healthy dialogue for the mainstream media and NC Register to publish. In my opinion, it appears that in many cases the “pro-Republican” vote among Catholics who blindly vote for an incompetent President, i.e., Trump is not only dangerous for all who have faith in Christ who are independent, or non-Republican, but is becoming and functioning more like a “cult” which is becoming a danger to a democratic society. This evident based on the Republican’s Health Care Bill which will most likely leave the very poor and vulnerable to fend for themselves….my sisters and brothers in Christ, is this being a “good” Catholic?

Posted by JOY on Friday, Jul, 14, 2017 1:03 PM (EDT):

After reading this, I am definitely leaving the Catholic Church as it is known. By the way, I do not have the dates, but to say that Norman Vincent Peale was close to Donald Trump may be laughable. I think Trump would have been quite a young person when the Power of Positive Thinking was written. Needless to say, Peale lived a very long life, but close to Trump? How do they define close?

Posted by HDF on Friday, Jul, 14, 2017 12:27 PM (EDT):

Yikes! Maybe this is why Our Lady has (allegedly) emphatically exhorted us to be “humble and pure of heart” - June 2, 2017, Medjugorje. One side or the other is being diabolically deceived with supernatural cunning. Coming from a position of authority, Fr. Spadaro seems compelling. But can complete aversion to abortion or homosexual practices be wrong? Would, then, Pope St. John Paul II, Pope Benedict XVI and all who came before us also be wrong? That’s hard to believe. God help us! I have heard praise for Cardinal Sarah’s book on “Silence” - and the clarity of mind that he receives from regularly fasting.

Worse than this horrendous article (which gets SO MUCH dead wrong that it would take pages and pages, not a single comment, to point out its radical misunderstanding of everything it talks about)
is the FACT that Pope Francis said Spadoro’s publication, La Civilta Cattolica, should be read by ALL college students, parents, teachers, seminarians, etc. etc. etc. and that it definitively reflected the Magisterium.

Enough said.

Posted by Thomas Brechlin on Friday, Jul, 14, 2017 11:45 AM (EDT):

CMTV is one of the sites that adhere with the true church teachings. Not surprised that they be slammed becuase they bring light to what’s happening in the church.

Posted by Jerry Todd on Friday, Jul, 14, 2017 11:30 AM (EDT):

This is a long way from my late mentor, Bishop John R. Sheets, SJ, a truly saintly man of God. Pope John Paul II sent him to Notre Dame to meet head on with her collapse into a form of quasi-religious secularism. In his frustrations, he’d often drive down to Steubenville to help the Franciscans launch their truly Catholic, exemplary university. Sadly, the Jesuits seem to be intellectually fiddling while Rome burns.

I posted this comment today about President Donald Trump and the Russians:

What was the key plank in the Trump campaign? Radical Islamic terrorism. Who else has a major jihad problem? Russia.

In the context of the campaign and the weeks following, anyone with a brain can see the Trump mindset was and is about protecting the American people and stopping this demonic evil. Why not find common ground to defeat this world wide threat to humanity? Why not follow up with any reasonably credible source of information until proven otherwise?

WW II President Franklin D. Roosevelt and the Soviet Union’s Josef Stalin also had a common enemy in the Nazi socialist Adolf Hitler. Stalin killed 40 million of his own people. Putin is restoring churches destroyed under Stalin. Of course, FDR was a Democrat - who would complain?

Progressives have much in common with jihadists - both want one world government - just a different approach to totalitarianism. Either way, it ends up in sedition - and the ideal legal structure to control the masses - Sharia.

The DNC Gold Star poster boy, Khzir Kahn, who waved a copy of the Constitution at Donald Trump is a Sharia lawyer, welcomed and adulated in Democrat circles. Khan has stated, “Sharia must supersede the Constitution as the Constitution is man’s law and Sharia is Allah’s law” - to the cheers of thousands of useful idiots.

The key to the Axis of Evil Spadaro & Figueroa’s abhorrence to “institutional forms” is the institutional Church. The great Irony is Evangelicals are infinitely more Catholic than they. It’s fitting that Christians unite during this crisis of sheer apostasy within the Catholic Church. The leadership of faithful Hierarchy can effect real unity that years of liberal oriented ecumenism failed. My sense is that as matters worsen, if indeed they do as the growing trend away from orthodoxy seems many Christians will begin to realize the efficacy of Catholic doctrine.

Posted by Ranger01 on Friday, Jul, 14, 2017 7:34 AM (EDT):

The bishop of Rome and the Jesuits really do hate America.
Of that, there is no doubt. The gloves are off.
So be it

Posted by vic on Thursday, Jul, 13, 2017 11:46 PM (EDT):

I am sorry - I voted for Donald Trump. I would vote for him again, no question. If the vatican believes that the opposition would have been a better choice, their judgement is much worse than I thought. This pope has a ideological and political agenda that does not seem to prioritize informed conscience or other basic church tenets. The theological mumbo jumbo in this “jesuit” publication seems to be an attempt to justify their modernistic and secularistic approach to the church. Here we have a vatican that has a dope infested, homosexual orgy right under their noses (how long has this been going on?), a new sex ed program for catholic youth that borders on the pornographic, attempts to “re-interpret” basic teachings that have been with us for 2000 years, etc., etc., and these people come down on Catholics who voted for Trump? Are they serious? Not judgmental at all, are we? Our church is in deep doodoo.

I now look forward to their article covering the American Leftists and their six decade old alliance with liberal Catholics. The one that mentions abortion, euthanasia, changing “marriage” definitions, support for socialist dictators, being a - ok with a so-called health care bill that forces the Little Sisters of the Poor to pay for contraceptives, forcing gender theory reasoning down everyone’s throats, etc. The one where the odd alliance goes on unquestioned in many corners but has the support of so many elites and politicians.

The space would have been better spent analyzing why Italians can’t keep governments for any significant amount of time.

Posted by Simon on Thursday, Jul, 13, 2017 11:19 PM (EDT):

Okay, so do the Jesuits have anything to say about that strange alliance between themselves and the world’s pro-abortion organizations and their wealthy funders, and Pope Francis’s seeming approval of it?

Posted by El Zorro on Thursday, Jul, 13, 2017 10:54 PM (EDT):

It’s hard to get things much more wrong than this guy over in Italy has it. What is most amazing is the nearly complete lack of understanding American politics and the reliance on odd generalizations. But then it seems many of the Jesuits are brain damaged these days. It is sad to think that so many good and faithful catholics who have exercised not only their responsibilities in voting but their God-given rights as well,i are caricatured as evil and hateful. It is nothing short of a page from the Clinton campaign and her basket of deplorables remark. One surely has a right to try to elect politicians who will end persecution of Christians and improve the supreme court, and even secure the borders. It is lunacy to suggest that fear of Moslem attacks is unfounded or over blown. We can see how walls were needed all over Europe not long ago. Why is there a Swiss Guard and a Vatican at all if sovereignty has no meaning or value? Any society and civilization can stand only so much strain until collapse, without a strong and religious America chaos will ensue.

There’s nothing controversial about Church Militant positions. Michael Voris and company are far more faithful to the Church than most bishops and priests in the USA.

Church Militant deserves our financial support, and bishops in San Jose CA, San Diego, Newark NJ, Detroit and New York (Cardinal Dolan) do not—they promote homosexuality. These bishops are in mortal sin for misleading their flocks to Hell.

By contrast, Church Militant leads us to Heaven.

Come to think of it, that IS controversial: to be truly Catholic when most USA clerics are not.

Posted by Spudnik on Thursday, Jul, 13, 2017 9:43 PM (EDT):

How disappointing that confidantes of the Pope have put out a hit piece so full of slanders against their brothers.

Posted by Michael O'Hara on Thursday, Jul, 13, 2017 9:02 PM (EDT):

If this priest wants to promote ecumenism, then he has a pretty strange way of doing it. It is quite obvious that writing a divisive book that promotes despicable stereotypes of white, evangelical Southerners and criticizing one of the most successful ecumenical movements in U.S. history (e.g. evangelicals and Catholics) is going to absolutely nothing helpful for ecumenism or healing the deep cultural divides within our country. Rather than spending time writing divisive books, I would recommend this priest use his time and energy to build up the RCC, which is rapidly moving to extinction in many dioceses throughout the United States

Posted by AH on Thursday, Jul, 13, 2017 8:50 PM (EDT):

And…so what? Fr Spadaro isn’t fond of people praying for a good political outcome? Whatever. Who cares? Doesn’t he have his own country to harass? Perhaps all this pretext is so he can let us know once again that he doesn’t like Kim Davis or Donald Trump. Got news for ya Fr., that isn’t very Christian of you. Of course, you are so much more sophisticated. Sheesh, is this his job?

Posted by GI Jenkins on Thursday, Jul, 13, 2017 8:27 PM (EDT):

I take this as serious as Franklin Graham writing on Italian politics, or maybe Stephen Hawkings musings on pitching in baseball.

Posted by Julie on Thursday, Jul, 13, 2017 8:11 PM (EDT):

It’s insulting and despicable that the mouth of the Vatican is calling faithful U.S. Catholics ‘hateful’ because we supported a pro-life presidential candidate over Killary the baby butcher.
The entire article is outrageous, insulting and fit for the bottom of a bird cage.

Posted by H on Thursday, Jul, 13, 2017 7:59 PM (EDT):

Spadaro knowingly conflates neo-cons with Trump and his followers to demonize them. He has a full blown leftist astroturf campaign castigating people of faith that also support Trump. Spadaro is preaching anti-American xenophobic hate speech and stamping it Catholic dogma. Soadaro is dangerous.

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